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European Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Round 2 – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Pro-Am and Am class wins for VSR at Spa

The second round of the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship was held at Spa this weekend. VSR added a fourth car, for local driver Baptiste Moulin, taking a break from his GT3 duties for a one-off drive in the Super Trofeo.

Three red flags in both free practice sessions meant extremely limited running for the majority of drivers before they headed into qualifying on Friday morning. With fifty-two cars on track and big speed differences between the Pro and LB Cup cars managing the traffic was a key goal. In the first session Michelotto set the early pace but was eventually beaten to the pole by Bonduel. Tribaudini was fastest in Am and twelfth overall. Zanon was the second placed Pro-Am car and Moulin eighteenth quickest in Pro.

At the start of Friday’s race Michelotto held second after getting the better of Di Folco as the pair raced side by side through Eau Rouge and Tribaudini held the Am lead from Guerin. Further back Zanon was dicing with the vastly more experienced Pavlovic and Moulin was sandwiched between Mela and Enjalbert. Out front Bonduel and Michelotto pulled away from the pack and on lap six Michelotto took the lead with an audacious move around the outside only to be pushed into the gravel by his rival. The VSR driver kept second and had caught back up to Bonduel when the Safety Car came out to rescue Roda. This coincided with the pit window opening and everyone immediately stopped to change drivers. In the pit-stops a quick release from Di Folco’s team-mate Strignano got him out ahead of Bonduel and Stadsbader, who had taken over from Michelotto. The Italian then slowed in pit-lane further delaying the 6 car. Tribaudini handed the Am lead over to Randazzo and Zanon, who had dropped down the order after a spin, gave the 16 Lambo to Frassineti. Moulin, who had made up several places in the Pro battle was given a drive through for speeding in the pit-lane. The race finally went green again with fifteen minutes left. At the restart Bonduel demoted Stadsbader to third and a spin for Frassineti pushed the 16 even further back. Racing was quickly halted again after several crashes forced the Safety Car to rejoin the track. The drivers were conceded one final racing lap before the chequered flag and in the melee at the restart Stadsbader was pushed out by Orudzhev and fell out of the points scoring places. Randazzo and Tribaudini went on to win their class after a faultless performance by both drivers saw the Am pairing finish an astonishing ninth overall.

Qualifying for Saturday’s race saw rookie Frassineti the quickest of the VSR drivers, parking the 16 car on the second row of the grid. Stadsbader and Moulin were the thirteenth and eighteenth fastest Pro drivers respectively and Randazzo qualified third in Am.

Starting up front for Saturday’s race Frassineti lost a few places at the green light but quickly settled into the pace of the Pro drivers around him. The Safety Car was inevitably deployed before a single racing lap had been completed. The track went green again and racing resumed for three laps before a further incident bought out the Safety Car again. The Pit Window opened on time and as the field dived into the pits the decision was taken to put out the red flag. The race never restarted and half points were awarded. The Pro-Am victory went to Frassineti and Zanon whilst Randazzo and Tribaudini took an Am podium to leave then one point off the top of the Am standings. Stadsbader and Michelotto earned themselves a half point for finishing tenth and Moulin was classified just outside the points having made up five places in the brief moments that the track was green.

Next up for VSR’s Super Trofeo team will be round three of the European Championship to be held at Le Mans in support of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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